How Long Do Hedgehogs Live in the Wild? Survival Explorer

General information only. Hedgehogs hide illness well. For a pet, see an exotic-animal vet; for a wild hedgehog in trouble, call a local hedgehog rescue. We give no medication or dosing advice.

How long do hedgehogs live in the wild?

A wild European hedgehog lives about 2 years on average, according to the People's Trust for Endangered Species (PTES), and "a small percentage will reach five years". That's the honest answer to "how long do wild hedgehogs live?": short lives for most, with a few reaching old age. The largest age study so far, which examined 697 dead hedgehogs from across Denmark, found an average age at death of about two years, with males living longer than females (2.1 vs 1.6 years) (Rasmussen et al. 2023).

The average is low because so many hedgehogs die young, not because hedgehogs age quickly. Wildlife Online, summarising decades of research, puts it starkly: about 70% of hedgehogs die in their first year, half of them during their first winter. A hedgehog that survives that year has a much better chance, with adult deaths at roughly 30% a year. On the model behind the explorer above, about 30% of hoglets reach their first birthday, and from then on the average hedgehog has about 2.8 years left.

Wild hedgehog lifespan at a glance

• Average: about 2 years (PTES; Rasmussen et al. 2023).
• First-year deaths: about 70% (Wildlife Online, summarising Morris and others).
• Reaching five: only a small percentage (PTES). On our model, about 7% of hoglets.
• Oldest documented: 16 years, a Danish hedgehog called Thorvald (Rasmussen et al. 2023).

The same answer applies to "how long do hedgehogs live in the UK?". The UK hedgehog lifespan and the garden hedgehog lifespan are the European hedgehog figures above, because the hedgehog in British gardens is the European hedgehog. The table shows what the explorer gives at different ages.

European hedgehog lifespan vs pet African pygmy hedgehogs

The European hedgehog lifespan is often confused with the lifespan of pet hedgehogs, but they're different animals. Pet hedgehogs are African pygmy (four-toed) hedgehogs, smaller tropical animals that don't hibernate. The table compares the two.

The comparison holds a surprise. Pets live longer on average, because they're protected from roads, predators and winter. But the European hedgehog has the longer potential life: up to 11.7 years in captivity (AnAge) and 16 documented in the wild. So the European hedgehog life expectancy is limited mainly by accidents and the first winter, not by ageing. For the pet species, see our pet hedgehog lifespan calculator.

Why the first year is the most dangerous

Hedgehog first year survival is the key to the whole picture. Almost 20% of hoglets die in the nest before they're weaned at about a month old (Morris 1977, via Wildlife Online). Hoglets are born between May and August (PTES), weaned at about four weeks and then on their own, learning to find food while the nights get shorter and colder.

Then comes the first winter. A young hedgehog must store enough fat to last months without eating. Late-born hoglets, often from a second litter, may run out of time to put on weight. That's why charities talk about "autumn juveniles" — youngsters still small in October and November. Current UK guidance from six organisations is that otherwise healthy young hedgehogs over 450 g can survive hibernation, while those under 450 g from late October to February should normally be taken into care (BHPS and partners, 2024). Our hedgehog hibernation checker compares a hedgehog's weight with that guidance month by month.

So why do wild hedgehogs die young? Mainly because the first year stacks several dangers on top of each other: inexperience on roads, garden hazards and a first winter with little fat in reserve. Get through it, and the yearly chance of survival rises to about 70% on the explorer.

What kills wild hedgehogs?

The Danish age study is one of the few to record causes of death for a large sample. Of 697 hedgehogs, most had been killed on roads.

• Roads. Hedgehog road deaths are the single biggest known killer. Wembridge and colleagues (2016) estimated that 167,000–335,000 hedgehogs are killed on British roads every year. Hedgehogs travel 1–2 km a night (PTES), so they cross a lot of roads.
• Badgers. Badgers and hedgehogs eat the same worms and beetles, and badgers also kill and eat hedgehogs. A national study in England found hedgehogs were less likely to be found where badgers were likely to be present (Williams et al. 2018). Where gardens and hedgerows give plenty of cover and food, the two can live side by side.
• Starvation in the first winter. Hedgehogs too small to hibernate safely (see above).
• Garden hazards. Strimmers and mowers cut hedgehogs sleeping in long grass; netting traps them; steep-sided ponds and drains drown them; slug pellets and pesticides poison them and their food (BHPS, Hedgehog Street).
• Habitat loss. Fewer hedgerows, bigger fields and solid fences cut hedgehogs off from food and mates.

Are hedgehogs endangered? UK and European population decline

Not officially "Endangered", but they are in trouble. In October 2024 the West European hedgehog was moved from Least Concern to Near Threatened on the global IUCN Red List, because its decline appears to be approaching or exceeding 30% in ten years across many areas (the Mammal Society; WildCRU). Numbers are thought to have fallen in more than half the countries where it lives.

In Britain the picture is worse. The Mammal Society's Red List for British Mammals (2020) classes the hedgehog as Vulnerable to extinction — the national hedgehog red list status. Its 2018 review estimated 879,000 hedgehogs in Britain (PTES). The State of Britain's Hedgehogs report (2022) found rural populations had fallen by 30–75% since 2000, with the steepest losses in the east of England, while urban populations seem to have stabilised and may be recovering.

That's the hedgehog population decline UK wildlife charities are working against: towns and gardens have become important refuges. So, are hedgehogs endangered? They're Near Threatened worldwide and Vulnerable in Britain, and the trend in the countryside is still down.

The oldest wild hedgehog recorded

The oldest wild hedgehog ever documented is Thorvald, a male from near Silkeborg in Denmark, who lived to 16 years. Researchers led by Sophie Lund Rasmussen aged him by counting growth lines in a thin slice of his jawbone — one line per hibernation, like tree rings. He was found among 697 hedgehogs collected by more than 400 volunteers, and died in 2016 at a wildlife rehabilitation centre. The previous scientific record was 9 years, and the same study found two more hedgehogs aged 13 and 11 (University of Oxford; Rasmussen et al. 2023).

Thorvald was exceptional. AnAge says wild hedgehogs "appear to live up to 7–8 years", and on the explorer only about 2% of hoglets would reach 8.

How to help wild hedgehogs live longer

Here's how to help hedgehogs in your garden, using advice from the British Hedgehog Preservation Society (BHPS), Hedgehog Street and the Wildlife Trusts.

• Make a hedgehog highway: cut a 13 × 13 cm hole at the bottom of your fence or wall — about the size of a CD case — so hedgehogs can move between gardens, then record it on Hedgehog Street (Wildlife Trusts).
• Offer food and water: meaty cat or dog food or hedgehog biscuits, and a shallow dish of water. Never milk (it causes diarrhoea) or bread (BHPS).
• Check before you strim: look through long grass and under hedges before strimming or mowing, and check bonfire piles before lighting them.
• Make ponds safe: add a ramp or shallow edge so a hedgehog that falls in can climb out (BHPS).
• Skip slug pellets and pesticides: they can poison hedgehogs and the insects they eat (BHPS).
• Leave a wild corner: a log pile, leaf litter and a patch of long grass give food and nest sites.
• Tidy away netting and litter: sports nets and garden netting entangle hedgehogs.

Each of these tackles one of the causes of death above. Linking gardens matters most in towns, where Hedgehog Street's highways let a hedgehog roam its 1–2 km a night without crossing roads.

What to do if you find a hedgehog out in the day

Hedgehogs are nocturnal. One out in daylight is often in trouble, and the BHPS says one lying still or struggling to walk needs urgent help. There are exceptions: a mother gathering nest material, or a hedgehog whose nest has been disturbed, will move quickly and "with purpose" for a short time.

1. Use gardening gloves or a folded towel to pick it up.
2. Put it in a high-sided box with an old towel or fleece to hide under, somewhere quiet and warm indoors.
3. If it's cold, add a hot water bottle wrapped in a towel, with room for the hedgehog to move off it, and keep it warm — a bottle left to go cold does more harm than good (BHPS).
4. Offer water and meaty cat or dog food — never milk.
5. Call a hedgehog rescue. In the UK, the BHPS helpline (01584 890 801) can put you in touch with your nearest rehabilitator.

In autumn and winter the same applies: the 2024 guidance says any hedgehog out in the day, or ill or injured, should be taken into care whatever it weighs.

How this survival explorer works

No single study gives a full survival table for wild hedgehogs, so the explorer builds one from the published figures summarised by Wildlife Online: almost 20% of hoglets die before weaning at a month old (Morris 1977); about 70% die in their first year, half of them in the first winter; and adults die at about 30% a year. We place the start of the first winter at 5 months, which suits a hoglet born in early summer, and draw straight lines between the points in the first year.

The model's results fit independent data reasonably well. It gives an average life of about 1.4 years from birth and 2.8 more years for a 1-year-old; PTES and the Danish study both put the average age at death at about 2 years, and PTES says a small percentage reach five (about 7% here). The "main risks" and the garden action for each age come from the sources on this page.

Its limits: real survival varies hugely with weather, food, roads, badgers and birth date. A review of European studies found juvenile winter mortality ranging from 6% to 94% (Rasmussen et al. 2019), and adult survival is unlikely to stay flat in old age. Treat the numbers as a guide to the pattern — very high early losses, then steadier odds — not as a forecast for one hedgehog. New Zealand isn't offered as a region because we found no survival data for hedgehogs there, where they are an introduced pest (NZ Department of Conservation).

Frequently asked questions

This calculator gives an estimate for education and fun. Every pet ages differently — for health decisions, talk to your veterinarian.